Entertainment Weekly will be revealing our latest The Walking Dead covers on Wednesday, Sept. 20. To lead up to the unveiling, we are posting a TWDnews item every day.

Last year’s season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead was brutal. Brutal for the characters, brutal for the actors, and brutal for the viewers as Glenn and Abraham were executed in graphic fashion. But as Danai Gurira — whose Michonne experienced an almost-as-bloody season finale — reports to EW, fans do not have to worry about a retreat to that deep, dark place when season 8 kicks off on Oct, 22

“We don’t tend to tread the same ground twice,” says Gurira. “It is a deeply different season premiere — deeply, deeply different and unpredictable and very, very rich in the story that’s being told and powerfully acted and all of that.”

According to Gurira, if you think you know what’s coming up for the show’s return, think again. “That’s what’s amazing about the writers of the show, is that they don’t tread the same ground. So you can’t be prepared for it. If you thought, ‘Well, I’ve seen this, I’ve seen that, so I can be prepared for what’s coming next’ — no, you can’t. You won’t be prepared.”

Gurira says the cast has been bowled over not just by the premiere — which also happens to be the show’s landmark 100th episode — but everything they have seen so far of season 8. “It’s like nothing before,” gushes the star. “We’ve all been knocked clear off our feet, and there’s just so many ways everybody’s story is expanded and deepened and sharpened. And the clashes that we’re in take turns no one’s going to expect. And at the same time, it remains palpably human, you know?”

The actress/playwright adds that when all is said and done, it’s not just the cast that will have been amazed. “It’s definitely a season that is going to knock everyone off their feet,” she says. “That, I can guarantee you.”

There you have it, the Danai Gurira guarantee! Now we just have to wait until Oct. 22 to make sure it’s as good as gold.

Make sure to check out our big Walking Dead cover next week. And for more Walking Dead scoop, follow me on Twitter @DaltonRoss.